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Digital Mystikz @ SMOG Sunday Sessions: Recap

It is really hard to verbalize the experience that went down. There was just SO much to take in. My night didn’t start off the way it ended (which was in a state of bliss). Two of my closest friends, who stupidly didn’t buy tickets before they sold-out, decided that they wanted to take the risk of POSSIBLY getting tickets at the door. So, out of a desire for them to experience the night alongside a desire to not have to make this drive by myself, I told both of them to meet me at my house so we could take off. We didn’t end up actually hitting the road until after 9pm, so a 1 hour drive now meant we were taking the chance of missing out on Kahn’s performance. Sure enough, we did. I am still quite disappointed about this as I do not know when he will be making another appearance here in California. We pull up to the venue and see a dense line of people coming out the door – this was expected. We look at each other and say “oh shit, that’s nuts, hopefully there’s some tickets left”. As we begin to make a left turn around the building to find parking, we see the line extend about a half-a-block down. I immediately knew that my friends were fucked on their ticket situation, but didn’t have the nerve to be so blunt in expressing my thoughts to them. We found parking and began to head over to the theme-park style line that awaited us. It was already ten minutes until 11pm, so it was here that I decided Kahn was out of the picture. 30 minutes go by and the line has moved in a infintesimal fashion. Thoughts of missing DMZ now begin to cross my mind and the anxiety begins to build. By this time one friend has secured a ticket from someone that was already inside and would meet him at the door. The other friend (the one who drove us!) was still in fucked mode. So as time began to pass we started to discuss how we were going to get home because our homie wasn’t going to stay if he didn’t get a ticket in tonight. I start calling around and texting friends inside to see if anybody has room for us on the way home. Out of nowhere an old friend of ours approaches us with a smile on his face and begins to chat. We immediately tell him that we still need one ticket, because we are getting closer to the door and hear the bouncers repeating “if you don’t have a ticket, don’t waste my time, you’re not getting in.” Out of pure coincidence and luck this guy a single extra ticket! I honestly couldn’t even believe my ears when he told us. The degree of relief apparent on my homies face was priceless. I’m sorry if this story bored some of you, but I felt it quite appropriate to set the tone of how mystical the vibes were, and how aligned the energy’s seemed to be on this night.

I look at my watch and it’s 5 minutes til 12 – DMZ takes the stage in five minutes. I’m freaking out. The line starts to move extremely quickly as the bouncers funnel people inside. I walk in and as I’m walking into the main room “Return II Space” is dropped, pulled back, and dropped again. Goosebumps overtake my body. The system is warmed up and tuned for people to really FEEL the music. The F1’s were hitting so hard the needle jumped (at least towards the beginning of the set), but the crowd understood that this is how dubplate culture worked – especially with music emitting frequencies in the 30-50 hertz range! Not one person looked disappointed. If the record skipped, a simple rewind from the selectors set the mood back right. Shortly after arrival I am in a trance-like state and end up leaving my friends to go stand in the apex of the sound field. As I begin to look around I take in the surroundings for the first time. The dim lighting, the way people are packed in like a sardine can, and the way the sound fills the air with sub-frequencies all act as a fuel for my trance, and I begin to drift further and further away. My friends find me and I vaguely remember them trying to talk to me or tell me that they were going to go meet up with some other friends and I should come. I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage, though. Mala dropped his first few, then Coki stepped up to the decks and lets people know he’s not fucking around with ‘Gangsta For Life’. ‘Tree Trunk’ comes in next and the place goes absolutely bananas, and the children start to mosh. I usually detest the kids that do this type of thing at the dubstep/dnb shows that I attend, but tonight it didn’t even phase me – I couldn’t have cared less about it. Stage packed with all the Smog fam, floor packed with heads that came out of the woodworks for this ONE show. It was honestly so inspiring to see people in such a state of deep appreciation and respect. Coki finishes his first go on the decks w/ Celestial Dub and I’m blown away by how hard it hits on the system.

I don’t want to go through every moment of the night because that would just end up being an excessively long script. The entire 2 hours and 45 minutes of the Digital Mystikz set was like the above description. This was a night that exceeded the boundaries of performance and hype. Regardless of sex, gender, race, age, hometown, etc., people were unified in a plane of consciousness. We were brought together to celebrate the beauty and power of soundsystem music made to elevate the mind. I am so thankful that I was able to experience this night.

Massive shout to Drew Best, the SMOG family, DMZ, and all others involved in this event. It was one that Los Angeles will never forget – trust!

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3 responses to “Digital Mystikz @ SMOG Sunday Sessions: Recap”

It was so obvious we were all on sacred ground. “no fuss ‘n no fight.” Just right vybz and blown minds. Thanks for a proper review. Shout to Drew, Kemst, and let’s not forget Fabian Bolanos @Los Globos. Bless U 4 the Bass Bliss!!

It was so obvious we were all on sacred ground. “no fuss ‘n no fight.” Just right vybz and blown minds. Thanks for a proper review. Shout to Drew, Kemst, and let’s not forget Fabian @ Los Globos. Bless U 4 Bass Bliss!!